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Lots Of Glaring Going On Here. I don’t know where this came from but I love you whoever made it.

Government can be a pretty groovy thing, unfortunately I’m not digging on it right now.

I just don’t know when people got so damned mean and spiteful. Maybe it was always there. I don’t know, I grew up in a different world I guess. Here in Tennessee I keep seeing bills that are being swiftboated into laws that deny voters, that treat our teachers/school systems like crap, deny workers rights and have absolutely no faith in average folks. Blow the top off a mountain, SURE! Send people to war repeatedly and then ignore their basic needs when they get home. That’s how politics rolls these days.

You know what I’m saying. And there is so much going on all at once that it isn’t easy following all the crazy stuff that’s going on.

It’s pretty disheartening to say the least. Everyday when I compile The Blue I am always amazed by certain things that actually come out of certain elected officials’ mouths. I’m also worried, quite frankly, that some regular people around the state are unaware of certain things that are happening in their own backyards.

But the Tennessee Legislature’s Republican supermajority now is moving to impose greater restrictions on local governments. Examples from this session include bills that would establish a committee that could overturn local school board decisions on charter schools, restrict local flexibility in government contracts and even keep cities and counties from renaming some parks.

snip

Micromanagement, however, should be avoided. Cities and counties should be free to name or rename their local parks as they see fit without legislative meddling. Memphis is not Maryville; Knox County has different needs than Sevier and Cumberland and Gibson counties. The Republican supermajority should remember its party’s preference for decentralization and leave local governments sufficient flexibility to arrive at their own solutions.

This disturbs me.

Several of us have been watching this (and writing about it) with a great deal of wary dread. If you elect a county commission let’s say in Hoots and they oppose vouchers (for example) even if they vote against the measure, it may not matter. They did vote on this Monday night with a rather resounding 13-4 NOPE. My question is very much inline with the KNS editorial and it is a simple one. How would someone like Speaker Ron Ramsey who lives in Blountville know anything about Weakley County or Gibson County and soforth?

We are currently just watching as the Supermajority keeps introducing model legislation of all kinds that hurts minorities, workers, the poor, the elderly, students and the list goes on. And there is so much being shuffled through that it’s hard to grasp on to just one thing. And on top of it, locally elected officials may or may not have a say on things if people on the Hill get what they want.

I apparently have more faith in people than many elected officials these days.

These things are important. Government should be about policies for a better life for people and not about personalities not getting their way.

Discussion (2 Comments)

by Eykis

On Tuesday I spent 4 hours at the Nashville VA with my husband. As is usual in the waiting rooms – which are large and always full, people discuss politics. The ONE thing NOT A SINGLE PERSON knew about was the Workers Comp law being proposed by the governor.

People were SHOCKED and said they would immediately get home and inform the Gov and Lege that this is another AFFRONT to Tennesseans in a WORKING CLASS state.